§ XXIII.
Sorrel.
(Oseille.)
I gather oseille (sorrel), belle-dame[N] noirée (beet), laitue (lettice), cerfeuil (chervil), ciboule (green onion), &c. in fit proportions. When they have all been well plucked, washed, drained, and minced, I cause the whole to be stewed together in a copper vessel well tinned. These vegetables ought to be well stewed, as if for daily use, and not dried up and burned as is often done in families, when it is intended to preserve them. This quantity of stewing is the most fit. When my herbs are thus prepared, I set them to cool in earthen or stone vessels. Afterwards I put them in bottles with a wide mouth. I cork them, &c. and I put my sorrel in the water-bath, which is allowed a quarter of an hour’s boiling merely. This time is sufficient for preserving it ten years untouched, and as fresh as if it was just taken from the garden. This mode is, without dispute, the best and most economical for families and hospitals, civil and military. It is, above all, most advantageous to the Navy: for sorrel thus prepared may be brought from the Indies, as fresh and savoury as if dressed the same day.